3rd class-action suit filed against TelexFREE

Wednesday

Jun 4, 2014 at 2:55 PMJun 4, 2014 at 5:56 PM

By Scott O'ConnellDaily News Staff

A North Carolina lawyer has filed a $5 billion class-action lawsuit against accused pyramid scheme business TelexFREE, the third such national suit to be filed against the embattled company and the first in U.S. District Court.Ihuoma Igboanugo, a Raleigh-based attorney, submitted the suit in the eastern district of North Carolina on Monday on behalf of plaintiff Maduako Ferguson St., a North Carolina resident and self-proclaimed victim of TelexFREE, according to court records.The lawsuit is similar to another filed a month ago in U.S. bankruptcy court in Nevada by Massachusetts residents Waldemara Martin and Leandro Valentim that also sought $5 billion.Both suits name as defendants various banking organizations allegedly used by TelexFREE in addition to the company itself and its managers and top promoters.Another class action suit seeking $300 million was filed in Massachusetts bankruptcy court in mid-May by Somerville residents Anthony Cellucci, Jamilly Lake, and Gerivaldo Pacheo.Framingham-based lawyer Evans J. Carter filed a class-action lawsuit for Massachusetts residents only in Middlesex Superior Court in late April.TelexFREE, which ran its U.S. operations out of an office building in Marlborough, has also been charged with securities fraud by both the Securities and Exchange Commission and Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin. Those agencies claim the company amassed hundreds of millions of dollars over the past two years through an international investing scheme that enticed people to buy advertising accounts with the business.In addition, one of the company’s two co-owners, James Merrill of Ashland, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud a month ago. He is being held in federal custody, but on Tuesday his lawyer submitted a petition for his release, arguing the government’s case was exaggerated and that Merrill would not follow the lead of fellow TelexFREE co-owner Carlos Wanzeler of Northborough, who authorities say fled to Brazil."It is incomprehensible to those who know Jim best that he would avoid his responsibilities to the Court, or ever leave his wife, children, extended family, friends of community," Merrill’s attorney, Robert Goldstein, wrote. "Indeed, unlike his co-defendant in this case, Mr. Merrill did not attempt to flee or avoid this prosecution, despite clear notice and knowledge of the government’s ongoing criminal investigation."Merrill is asking the court to allow home detention at his house in Ashland, GPS monitoring, surrender of his and his wife’s passports, and payment of a $900,000 personal recognizance bond, among other conditions.In response on Tuesday, prosecutors for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz’s office said it is too risky to release one of the most visible leaders of the "cult-like" TelexFREE, whose zealous supporters could assist him if were to leave the country."This was a scheme that depended on TelexFREE constantly recruiting new promoters, and the defendant played a very large role in that deception," wrote assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling. "Someone willing to maintain that deception for months and years is someone who would consider finding ways to avoid this Court’s reach."Wanzeler’s wife, Katia Wanzeler, meanwhile, has made her own request to the court after being arrested at JFK International Airport in New York in mid-May and then released by a judge a week ago. In U.S. District Court in Boston, Wanzeler on Tuesday asked the court to unfreeze two accounts at St. Mary’s Credit Union in Marlborough containing nearly $47,000 that she needs to continue running two cleaning businesses she and her husband operate in the region.Wanzeler said she is in the process of removing her husband’s name from K & C Cleaning Services and Cleaner Image USA, both of which are registered to Carlos Wanzeler in the Secretary of State's corporate database, where they are listed at the same 225 Cedar Hill St., Marlborough, address as TelexFREE.Scott O'Connell can be reached at 508-626-4449 or soconnell@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottOConnellMW